Kerala comes to a standstill as private bus operators go on token strike

Thiruvananthapuram, July 8 (IANS) Normal life came to a standstill across Kerala on Tuesday after around 20,000 private buses were off the roads due to a token strike called by the operators.

The operators have been raising demands like an increase in charges for student concessions, steps to check fake concession cards, besides a few other demands for a while now.

With the talks with the Transport Commissioner failing, the operators decided to have a token strike on Tuesday. They have warned that if the government fails to address their demands in a week, they will have no other option but to go on an indefinite strike from July 22.

Incidentally, it’s the private buses which provide succour for the common man all across the state, as the state-owned Kerala State Road Transport Corporation has only around 6,200 buses.

Moreover, the KSRTC services are more concentrated in and around the main cities and towns, leaving the private buses to operate in the interior places in all the districts.

KSRTC has dominance only in the state capital city besides they operate long distances also, while the private buses operate more short distances services.

Consequent to the strike, the attendance in offices has been affected, and the same is the case in educational institutions which do not have their own services or other parallel services. Having a field day on Tuesday is the auto rickshaws and fly-by-night operators who operate small vans and buses in suburban areas and interior places.

A 24-hour national strike called by 10 central trade unions on a 17-point charter of demands will be observed on Wednesday. The strike will begin from Tuesday midnight, and is likely to paralyse the public transport system and normal life in Kerala. The state-level joint committee of trade unions have appealed to the general public to cooperate.

--IANS

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